River Valley anglers top HS World FinalsNineteen pounds and once ounce leads the pack on Lake Dardanelle after day one of The Bass Federation High School Fishing World Finals. Two members of the River Valley High School Fishing Team, Colten Aday and Jake White, brought in a impressive limit of bass that weighed 18-05. Then they added 12 bonus ounces for completing the optional online certification courses the Student Angler Federation — offers on such items as boater safety, angler ...

Patriots extend winning streak to 8The Russellville American Legion Post 20 Patriots ran their winning streak to eight games Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over the North Little Rock Colts at Tech Field. The Patriots (9-4) used back-to-back RBI doubles by Cody Underhill and Cory Hottinger to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning on their way to the victory. Joel Barker drew a bases-loaded walk in the second inning to bring in Russellville’s first run of the game. The Colts led off th...

Bielema: Uptempo dangers still fact not fictionHOOVER, Ala. — Bret Bielema didn’t bite this time. Not really. For the second straight year, the Arkansas coach had to respond at Southeastern Conference media days to another coach’s skepticism about his contention that fast-paced offenses are hazardous to defensive players. A year ago, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn said he initially thought that was a joke and Bielema fired back that he’s no comedian. On Wednesday, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said the...

HS World Finals start on Lake DardanelleThe Bass Federation High School World Finals returns to Lake Dardanelle State Park for a fourth consecutive summer, as anglers from high school fishing teams across the country take to the waters today in hopes of winning a world championship. The High School Fishing World Finals are open to all high school anglers in the country and offers a host of scholarships and prizes including a chance to compete in the Boat US Collegiate Bass Fishing C...

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Courier sports staffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Called from CaliforniaJoey Stein traveled 1,852 miles from Santa Clara, Calif., to take a job as the Clarksville Panthers defensive coordinator earlier this year. Clarksville head coach Eli Cranor said he knew he wanted Stein for the job the moment he knew the job was there to be filled. Cranor and Stein played together in the European Football League, where they enjoyed a 15-1 season and a Eurobowl Championship with the Carl State Crusaders. Cranor played quarterb...

Post 20 wins seventh straightCONWAY — The Russellville American Legion Post 20 baseball team edged out the Conway American Legion 10-9 in Conway on Saturday. The victory was Russellville’s seventh win in a row. Post 20 led 10-2 in the top of the sixth inning, but Conway scored seven runners in the bottom to make a game of it. The teams stalemated in the seventh inning to set the final score. Russellville scored two in the first, four in the second, two in the third and tw...

Lake Dardanelle’s bestAll across the Arkansas River Valley the fishing is heating up and regardless of what type of fish you are looking for Lake Dardanelle may very well be the hottest lake in the natural state! Catfishing on Dardanelle is currently second to none, especially below the dam, as there may be no better place in the entire state to catch catfish and when you see crowds of people there, that means the bite is on. Giant spoon billed catfish are being re...

Hall suits up with Minnesota Vikings in preseasonAt 6’9 and 326 pounds of solid muscle, former Russellville Cyclone Matt Hall looks the part of an NFL lineman. Frankly, he looks like he could lift a car over his head if he felt like it. Handy if you’re going to be shoving around the best defensive linemen and linebackers the NFL has to offer. Hall was picked up by the Minnesota Vikings in free agency after the 2014 draft and has survived the first round of cuts. He’s on the team — although h...

The life of a football coach's wifeEditor’s note: This is the second part of a series explaining the ups and downs of being a coach’s wife in the Arkansas River Valley. Look for more in the next Sunday edition of The Courier. HECTOR — Almost 15 years ago Brooke Taylor needed help moving in her dorm room at Arkansas Tech University. Someone told her she could ask Mark Taylor, who was a graduate assistant at the time. She had no idea it would lead to marriage, three kids and Frid...

AAA proposes conference changesRussellville athletic director Johnny Johnson has a pretty good feeling the proposed changes to the current conference alignment will pass during an August meeting of the the Arkansas Activity Association’s (AAA) governing body. The proposed changes, which require a two-thirds vote to pass, will eliminate the 7A/6A blended conferences currently in place, reduce travel time and eliminate the “all-in” Class 6A state playoff format that has been ...

Russellville, Clarksville get reps at campA few hours before the Russellville Cyclones hosted a team camp at Cyclone Stadium, Russellville head coach Jeff Holt laughed and told me he and his coaches hadn’t had much time to install the new defense that recent hire David Wheeler brought with him. “We might not line up in the right place,” he said. Those kinds of things take time. With Wheeler at the defensive coordinator spot, Russellville has changed from a 3-4 to a 4-2-5 defense. Holt...

LeBron James says he's returning to Cavaliers CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James is returning home to Ohio, reversing the decision he made four years ago that led to two NBA titles in Miami and crushed Cleveland Cavalier fans. James told Sports Illustrated for a story published Friday that he was signing with the Cavaliers because his relationship with Northeast Ohio is "bigger than basketball." "When I left Cleveland, I was on a mission," James said in the SI first-person story. "I was seekin...

Cyclones hire Wheeler as defensive coordinatorThe Russellville School District (RSD) hired former University of Central Arkansas (UCA), Ole Miss and Arkansas Tech University (ATU) assistant coach David Wheeler during a recent a School Board meeting in order to fill the space left by Joey Jones, who retired at the end of the school year. Finding the perfect fit wasn’t easy, but Russellville Cyclones head coach Jeff Holt said he believes Wheeler’s experience lifted him above other candidate...

Football boosters to host GLO Run 5kThe Russellville Cyclones Football Booster Club wants to light up the night and feed the team with the second annual GLO Run 5k on Aug. 6. The GLO Run, which begins at 9 p.m. on the East side parking lot of the Russellville Junior High School (RJHS), equips registered runners with glowsticks and glow-in-the-dark T-shirts for the chip-timed run/walk event. Last year’s run brought around 300 participates — far more than organizers had anticipate...

Cyclones to host summer team campWith the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) enforced dead period behind them, football teams across the state returned to action on Monday to prepare for the upcoming season. The Russellville Cyclones, along with several other local teams participated in 7-on-7 on Monday at Thone Stadium at Buerkle field on the campus of Arkansas Tech University and Russellville will host a team camp at 5 p.m. Thursday at Cyclone Stadium. Team camps, which ...

Three Golden Suns named WGCA All-America ScholarsArkansas Tech University has three representatives listed among the 2013-14 Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-America Scholars. Golden Suns golf team members Taylor Kline, Rebecka Surtevall and Caroline Fredensborg earned the honor, which requires a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5. Kline is a junior management and marketing major from Springdale. She finished in the top 15 of the final individual standings in 10 of her 13 star...

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Three Wonder Boys named Preseason All-AmericaArkansas Tech University has three representatives on the 2014 NCAA Division II preseason All-America teams selected by the website USA College Football. Junior linebacker Logan Genz of West Fork and senior defensive back Shai Kobayashi of Antioch, Calif., were named to the preseason All-America second team. Senior fullback Tyler Moon of Euless, Texas, earned a place on the preseason All-America third team. The Wonder Boys were 5-6 overall and...

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ATU Sports InformationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Post 20 tops Conway 3-0The Russellville American Legion Post 20 baseball team defeated Conway American Legion 3-0 on Sunday at M.J. Hickey Park. Russellville got the work done early as Cory Hottinger’s two RBI double scored Travis Cole and Cody Underhill. to take a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Post 20 made it 3-0 after the third inning once again off Hottinger’s bat when his single scored Jacob Barker. Post 20 held on through the final four innings for the victo...

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Courier sports staffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Life as a coach's wifeEditor’s note: This is the first part of a series explaining the ups and downs of being a coach’s wife in the Arkansas River Valley. Look for more next Sunday in The Courier. DARDANELLE — As a long-time sports fan, Suzie Price knew exactly what she was getting into when she married Dardanelle head football coach Josh Price. Well, maybe not exactly. “I was raised around sports,” she said. “I like sports, so it really works for us. It’s kind of ...

Lake Degray: The ultimate getawayOutdoor enthusiasts are always looking for that special getaway place that not only provides the activities that they love, but will also provide plenty of fun and activities for the entire family as well. Throughout the years, and all my travels to various towns, lakes, tournaments and tournament sites, there is one travel destination that has always stood out for me. That spot is Lake Degray just outside of Arkadelphia and just a few miles s...